The Big Brass Elephant

This is a repost of a Blog entry from November of 2009.

Going to the Dentist , an appointment at the DMV, deciding to volunteer for the local Republican Party . You may ask why should volunteering for the GOP be listed these other activities.

Well lets go back in time.
The year was 1974 and my father and I were visiting in Ashland, Ky. My father had worked away from home for several months, as he often did, and stayed at a boarding house in Ashland. My father wanted me to meet the lady who owned the house. When I met the lady, she was a little grumpy. It seems as she had donated quite a bit of money to a GOP US Senate candidate in KY who had been just beaten in the general election. Upon her coffee table stood a large brass elephant with the words GOP on the side of it.

Flash forward 20 years to 1995 . I remember my late father-in-law was a benefactor of the GOP , and as a result his evenings were often interrupted with phone calls to donate to the GOP and his mailbox filled with surveys from the national committee. These surveys were loaded with leading questions that somehow were supposed to make you think that you - John Q Public- were actually contributing to the party's ideology. The GOP still sends these surveys to my wife in envelopes with big stamps stating URGENT SURVEY ENCLOSED IF YOU DON"T OPEN THE EARTH WILL CRASH INTO THE SUN. OK that was an exaggeration but not much. I shared the Big Brass Elephant story with my wife and it became an analogy to people who gave too much to the GOP and got little in return.

I just took a Zogby poll and it asked me if I was embarrassed to have Barack Obama as my President to which I answered yes. Had the same question been asked two years ago I would have responded the same about GW. But now I feel now I am actually scared for our Republic and need to do more.

I have been flirting with getting involved with politics on a local level for quite a while and went to a local GOP meeting. But there is a problem after attending, I am not interested in a group ran by Roberts Rules of Order nor listening to committee reports. That is why I never was a PTA member and I have trouble being part of some religious organizations I suppose I am too much of a rebel ,a Teddy Roosevelt /Sarah Palin Bull Moose Republican. I will continue to express my thoughts and ideas to those who will listen. I will continue to speak to the deaf in the hopes their ears will open . I suppose I will never earn the coveted Big Brass Elephant.

I will continue to be a voice crying in the wilderness.. .